MMD > Archives > October 1999 > 1999.10.23 > 01Prev  Next


Gem Roller Organ and Roller (Cob) Repairs
By Mike Knudsen

Oddly, I have a Gem that plays very well, but the repeat pin is off by
about 90 degrees -- not just in backwards, which would be 180.  I have
no idea how to fix it, since the helical worm that advances the shaft
is firmly welded or press-fitted onto the shaft, and really nothing can
be adjusted.

I can't imagine how it got that way, except it was manufactured wrong
to begin with, and the inspector didn't crank all the way through a test
cob to check it out.  And with the Ithaca factory shipping hundreds or
thousands of organs a day, I can imagine why not!

Incidentally, the correct operation of that auto-repeat pin lends
support to the theory that circuit riding preachers used these organs
to accompany hymns -- he just kept cranking till the last verse.

Mike Knudsen


(Message sent Sat 23 Oct 1999, 03:48:43 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.)

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